Take a Shot
by nioki-nainai
Summary: What if your idiot best friend became your Commander and forces you to find a partner to lighten the load? What if you start feeling something for this partner? What if this partner feels something for you too? Will the emotions be conveyed to each other? - [AU]
1. Chapter 1: Missed Shot

Joint Fiction ~ _nioki-nainai_ and _ElementalMiko12_

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha or its characters! No copyright infringement was intended ~

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**Author's Note:** Hey everyone, Nao and Lyn here :3... This is our first joint Fiction. We hope you enjoy reading this half as much as we're enjoying writing it! We think we've already taken up too much of your time with reading this little note here so we'll let you get to it... Enjoy!

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**Writing Style:**

Normal text = Narration  
_Italic text = Past events_  
"Double inverted commas = speech"  
'Single inverted comma = thoughts'

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**Take a shot  
****Chapter 1: Missed Shot**

Fate slammed her fists down on the desk. "Hayate! I don't need a freaking partner!", Fate yelled, watching as her best friend stopped banging her head and playing an imaginary guitar, unplugging the earphones from her ears.

Hayate grinned mischievously as she walked over to her chair from the big overlooking window behind her desk to sit in the newly bought business computer chair. She crossed her right leg over her left knee, loving the feel of her new chair. "Yeah you do.", the short haired brunette told Fate while flicking some of her hair over her shoulder, before turning on the chair's massager; the company didn't know it yet, but this chair was definitely going home with her!

Fate shook her head furiously as she began her protest, "No I don't! I work better on my own; you...", pausing as her cheeks suddenly darkened a tint of red that almost matched her burgundy eyes, glaring at her childhood friend and Commander. "T-This is just another one of your stupid attempts to hook me up with someone...", Fate stated sharply, attacking the poor wooden desk in front of her again, as if it had done something wrong.

Hayate closed her eyes and shrugged her shoulders carelessly. "I don't know what you're talking about.", she said to her blonde friend, twirling a few strands of her brunette locks loosely around her finger as a distraction. She mentally groaned at the nice stack of paperwork on her desk that did nothing but continue to build all throughout the day.

Fate felt herself getting frustrated with her friend's matchmaking antics. Who the hell did she think she was? Cupid? If Hayate didn't stop meddling in her love life, she'd find the real Cupid and shove one of his arrows up her ass! Two for good measure!... 'I must be stupid to think that Cupid would trust this moron with a bow… plus Hayate can't be considered a Cupid, nor an Angel of Love.' Fate's thoughts soon got disrupted as she suddenly heard her friend starting to hum an upbeat tune, displaying how much Hayate really didn't care that her friend wanted nothing to do with her antics.

Cupid wasn't so sneaky... or devious. Fate bowed her head, "You're planning on making me do it despite what I say, aren't you?", she asked with a sigh as she stood upright, rubbing her temples in frustration. She already knew her friend's answer… so why had she bothered to ask? Was Fate trying to frustrate herself now too? Sighing once again, Fate found herself irritatedly drumming her fingers against the thick red expensive wooden desk.

Hayate smirked, confirming it for Fate; Fate's right eyebrow twitched in annoyance as her fingers paused from their rapid drumming tune. Fate's hand dropped against the nice desk. "Fine… Let's get this over with.", she mumbled, turning to walk out. How she hated her life right now…

Hayate shook her head at the long blonde haired officer. 'One day she'll thank me.', she thought, shoving her earphones back into her ears. Sound boomed and vibrated into her ear drums, as she soon found herself standing and dancing out of her office to follow her childhood friend.

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*Boom*, the sound echoed throughout the room as a metal shell casing smashed through the target, hitting and lodging itself into the thick wall behind one of the many targets that lined against the wall. The shooter cursed seeing the shot off by a few centimeters before putting the police issues .38 revolver down on the small firing range desk before her. With that done, she sighed and turned to walk back to the wall where her group stood, waiting for a turn against the wall.

"Next!", Fate yelled in a bored tone from the sidelines. She wasn't even looking anymore… Her arms were folded in front of her and her forehead was resting on them. She couldn't believe this...

Hayate sweat dropped. "Who cares about their bad shots... They're all smokin hot!", she whispered back to her blonde friend who looked up at her for a moment, seeming far more irritated than when she was in her Commanding office earlier. With Hayate's mouth hopefully permanently glued shut for the day, Fate let her head fall again against her arms.

*Boom*, the gun sounded several times. The young female growled in frustration seeing the target. None of her bullets hit anywhere near the target. Fate didn't even have to look to know how that one turned out. She could tell by the sound alone that the girl hadn't hit anywhere near her target whatsoever. Fate couldn't believe they had people like this in the advanced course of the Police Academy. It was purely laughable…

Fate shook her head against her arms before looking up. "Definitely not. Next!", Fate yelled as she watched and judged the rest of the participants' shots. She couldn't help but notice their sloppy footwork and their shaken hands, either by the excitement of making it this far or with fear of finally holding a fully loaded .38 revolver in their hands, knowing they would have control over the life of another if picked. They had nothing to worry about; not in the current condition they were shooting.

Fate sighed. There was no way she could have a partner like that; this was just a test but in real circumstances, they couldn't afford to miss several shots like this, risking of hitting pedestrians or fellow officers, something which was bound to happen with such a state of mind.

How the hell did Hayate find these candidates in the Police Academy? And what the hell had she been drinking to even consider she'd pick any of them?!... But she already knew that Hayate hadn't picked these girls for their shooting skills… Fate sweat dropped. 'She totally picked these girls only for their looks.', she thought as she watched the next girl who seemed to be much clumsier than the rest. The guns small recoil hit her and she practically flew back into the wall.

She had yet to see one of them hit the target more than once in the past hour and a half; all failing due to trembling hands and horrible stances. Fate was tempted to find out who taught them and criticize them for sending their apprentices out to display such horrific skills of gunmanship.

Hayate and Fate quickly ducked under the table as the klutzy one of the group misfired again, though this time the shot headed directly for them instead of the target. The girl cried and apologized for her clumsiness, while Fate and Hayate slowly poked their heads over the metal desk that they had been sitting at before deciding it was safer to be under rather than above the desk for this one.

As the last contestant finished firing off rounds, Fate stood up and left the room without a word, shaking her head. 'Bunch of fools…', Fate thought as the metal door slammed shut behind her. She was sure the loud noise caused several of the candidates to flinch.

Fate ran her fingers through the top of her hair; that misfired shot had been so close that she had felt the wind rush against her head. 'To think I almost died by a fool's hand… great.', Fate thought while pushing open a door which had a small plastic sign that spelled out 'Firing Range' and smaller letters below it reading 'Official trained officers only.' She found herself feeling slightly glad that the participants were trying out in the Practice Firing Range and not in the actual one. At least this way she would see some real shooting while firing some shots herself, calming down and unwinding a bit.

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Meanwhile in the Firing Range, several shots rang out as someone was testing the various weapons offered by the police department. Taking the next rifle in her hand, a .308 calibre sniper, Nanoha starts checking the provided weapon, ready to test it out. It's cool heavy metal barrel stretched out further than her arm length. It had a nice scope mounted on top of it, though she highly doubted she'd need it for such a close up target.

Sniper rifles really were the preferred type of weapon by the brown-haired woman; able to maintain close visual and hit precisely the designated target, and most of all, perfect to demonstrate her marksmanship. She found herself smirking as she propped the long gun against her shoulder and began making her way back to the desk area to put in a standard round. They wouldn't miss a bullet or two; if they did... oh well! She set the rifle's legs out placing them on the table; after taking in a deep breath and shouldering the gun.

Preparing to fire, she closes one of her eyes while placing the other against the rifle's LP II scope, slowly aiming at the center of the target. Ready to fire, the brown-haired woman suddenly hears the nearby door open, slightly getting her attention. Looking from the corner of her eye, she notices a tall blonde-haired police woman closing the opened door behind her. The woman's hair looked smooth to the touch as it bounced a little from the slightest movement.

As the long blonde-haired woman turned around; her hair twirled around her, brushing along her thighs. Soon the brunette found herself astonished by the blonde's beauty and her elegant grace. Raising her head a bit to get a clearer view of this person, a slight shade of red makes way to the brunette's cheeks, distracting her from the target. Her finger slipped, hitting the trigger; causing her to accidentally fire a shot. Smoke pooled from the guns heavy barrel and steamed in a fine line, tracing the bullets path.

Hitting the target a couple of centimeters from the bullseye, the brown-haired woman backs away a little in embarrassment, both from missing the shot and because she noticed that the blonde-haired officer was staring between the target and her. The chestnut haired woman's cheeks darkened a few more shades 'How embarrassing!', she thought. She could swear steam oozed from her ears when the woman's wine red eyes fell on her. She could still smell the faint scent of gunpowder swirling around the air in her vicinity.

Fate observed the target, happy to finally see someone actually hit them; even if missed by a couple of centimeters, this was probably the best shot she had seen throughout the whole day, especially after that farce of demonstration she was forced to attend earlier. She unconsciously brought her hand up to nurse the slight bald spot she'd gotten from the last ever so clumsy participant. Why couldn't that chick have shot at Hayate 'accidently', maybe then she'd pick participants who could do more than look pretty.

As Fate looked in front of her to see who had fired the shot, she noticed that the person was someone new; someone she had never seen before. As she approached the brown-haired woman, Fate smiled, happy to finally see someone else with good gunmanship other than herself. "Not bad, quite good in fact... Are you new here? I've never seen you before." Fate asked as she walked closed to the long haired brunette. Her long chestnut brown hair was pulled to the side in an off center ponytail; her deep blue eyes kept her mesmerized and unable to look away. Fate found herself feeling an odd urge to find out if her skin was indeed as smooth as it looked.

The fairly tall brunette blushed as she saw the blonde-haired approaching her, nodding her head. "Y-Yes. I'm Takamachi Nanoha. I'm h-here for an appointment. I arrived early and so t-the Commander gave me the permission to explore t-the department and c-come here until it's time.", Nanoha fumbled with her words, mentally hitting herself for acting like a little school girl with a crush. Nanoha's face only became darker as the tall blonde strutted closer.

'She's so cute while blushing... and Nanoha; I like her name... Wait... What am I thinking...', Fate mentally shook her head and continued after the beautiful brunette known as Nanoha Takamachi, "Ah, Hayate did... I see. Well I can say your exploration went well since you found the best place in this department... I'm Fate T. Harlaown. Nice to make your acquaintance Officer Takamachi." Fate introduced herself, stopping in front of Nanoha.

The brunette was in normal clothes; a simple royal blue shaded tank top with white wing prints pasted across her chest with the words 'Born to fly', written in cursive just under the wings. Nanoha's short white mid-thigh shorts had what looked to be slits, up the sides with the same blue as her top, filling the missing slitted triangle on either side of her legs. She also wore leg hugging white stockings that stopped just an inch or two above her knee, with her favorite pair of simple white and blue sneakers.

Nanoha nervously rubbed her hands before bowing gracefully. "Nice to make your acquaintance too Officer Harlaown.", Nanoha greeted before returning to an upright position, giving Fate a shrugging beaming smile as she closed her eyes for a brief moment while allowing her hands to link behind her back and her head to tilt slightly to the right. Nanoha missed the collective blush that gathered over Fate's cheeks which she quickly tried to cover by bringing her hand to her lips.

'She's so cute!', Fate thought, bringing her hand down as her cheeks slowly lost their darkened tint to reveal her smile while she approached Nanoha and took the rifle in her hand. "Nice shot you did there. You seem to be a bit stiff though. You should relax more. Take a deep breath before aiming and don't be nervous.", Fate said as she stepped behind Nanoha putting her hands in the right places, innocently allowing her hand to rest over Nanoha's. "Bring your feet apart just a little more.", Fate instructed her, feeling her heart pounding wildly against her chest.

'She's so warm.', Nanoha thought, feeling Fate's chest press into her back. She could feel nervous beads of sweat gathering at Fate's closeness.

"Good, now lean your back a little bit more against me." Fate instructed her.

"Ok.", Nanoha replied with a small smile as she did as she was told, mentally sweat dropping as she started to take aim. 'That's not the problem, I'm actually nervous because of you... I can't actually say why I missed... How could I tell someone I just met that I got distracted because I found them stunning... Better play along. Let's just make this shot a little better.', Nanoha thought, aiming like a centimeter or so off the bullseye, not wanting to hit a dead center.

Nanoha takes a deep breath and holds it, listening to her fast paced heartbeat, crashing endlessly into her ribcage under her tanned skin; when her heart stopped for a split second, she fired. A thick smoke ring shot from the barrel as the bullet went its course. As soon as the bullet hits the target, Nanoha fist pumps; happy that it hit exactly where she wanted. She immediately turned to Fate as she released her from her hold, smiling happily. "I did it. It's all thanks to you. Thanks for your advice."

With those words, Fate smiled and blushed, rubbing the back of her head; something that Nanoha found to be really cute.

Feeling embarrassed by the complement, Fate turned to face the target, eyeing the track the bullet took; watching as the fine and barely noticeable mist of smoke fogged up the room for a moment before dissipating. "You're really good. Some practice and you'll be perfect. Do you think you'll be visiting here more often?", Fate asked, tilting her head slightly back to look at Nanoha curiously.

Nanoha nodded, hearing nothing but her heart pounding in her ears. "I'm not sure, but hopefully yes. It kind of all depends on the appointment I have today.", Nanoha told her, fidgeting with the hem of her shorts after putting the rifle down on the desk.

Fate smiled as she intertwined her fingers and started gesturing nervously with her thumbs. "I see... Well, if things go well and if you'd like... I could always meet up with you every now and then, and give you some tips or show you some tricks...". Feeling somehow anxious, Fate started rubbing the back of her head timidly, "I mean, there's no need to accept if you don't want to." Fate stopped for a second to take a deep breath and released a heartfelt sigh. "What do you think?", she asked nervously, feeling hopeful that her offer would be accepted.

Nanoha grinned at Fate's behavior as she nodded her head. "I'd gladly accept your offer. Thanks Officer Harlaown." Nanoha accepted, smiling at Fate's adorable habits. Nanoha's eye's locked on Fate's for a long moment, analyzing every light and dark shade of red put in to make such beautiful alluring eyes. It was at this moment that Nanoha noticed that those beautiful yet dulled lonely eyes now possessed an almost ecstatic sparkle into them.

Fate smiled broadly, happy that Nanoha accepted her offer. "You can call me Fate if you like.", Fate offered, feeling so much happy that even if she were to be shot right now, the pain she would be feeling would still be unable to remove that smile she had which seemed to be permanently glued on her face. Fate outstretched her hand, ready to seal the deal.

A slight shade of red made way on Nanoha's cheeks. "Okay F-Fate. You can c-call me Nanoha.", she told Fate, smiling brightly as she clapped her hand into Fate's slightly rougher one... Her touch felt tough, yet soft in the brunette's hand. 'She's so gentle...', Nanoha thought.

Somehow Fate has taken a liken to the brown-haired girl's cute blushing face. Wanting to see it more, she decides to playfully call her name, knowing that this would surely make her blush. "Will do ~ Na-no-ha.", Fate said giving the brunette a teasing wink.

Nanoha instantly blushed. 'I know she's teasing me and I still blushed... Ah, but two can play at this game!...' As the blush faded away, Nanoha mischievously grinned as she took the gun back in her hand. "So what's next, Sen-sei?", Nanoha said, giggling behind her hand as she watched Fate's face light up like a Christmas tree again.

Fate suddenly burned up, turning around to hide the blush. 'Sensei... She called me sensei.', she thought as she started rubbing the back of her head again. As she fake coughed a little, hoping that this would remove the blush, Fate swiftly turned back to continue, "Well then...", but she soon stopped as she found a grinning Nanoha staring at her. 'It was on purpose too...', she thought as she started chuckling thinking of what had just happened. "Touché Nanoha.", Fate responded.

Hearing that, Nanoha started giggling as she placed the gun back down. "So Fate, is there any reason why you came here? I mean, I'm sure you didn't come here to teach me. I don't want to interrupt you." Nanoha told her as she leaned back against the desk with her arms crossed over her chest.

Fate gently smiled at Nanoha. "You aren't. There's no need to worry. Actually, I came to relax a bit. Shooting calms me down and so I thought I'll fire a couple of quick shots. Had a pretty rough day so far. I was forced to follow a meeting I didn't want too." Fate sighed as she remembered how Hayate ignored her and continued. "One must follow the Commander's orders.", Fate told the brunette with a slight smile.

Hearing so, Nanoha lent the gun to Fate. "The Commander; is she a good person? She seemed to be a gentle person. She allowed me to visit here, even though I don't have the permit." Nanoha pointed out, touching her cheek in wonder. Nanoha watched Fate's right eyebrow noticeably twitch; as her devious cunning friend popped into her head.

Fate chuckled as she took the rifle in her hand. Wanting to make a quick shot as time was coming to an end, she swiftly gets into a perfect stance, preparing to fire. Fate closes one eye while placing the other against the rifle's scope. Aiming to make a perfect shot, she took a deep breath as she focused for the shot. Hitting the trigger with a slight tap, the bullet darts to the target, hitting bullseye. Placing the gun down, Fate smiled; happy about the perfect hit. "Ah, that's typical of Hayate. She always grants a pretty girl's wish..."

Amazed by the shot, Nanoha stared at the target until Fate's words got imprinted in her mind, causing the chestnut haired girl to burn up. 'She thinks I'm pretty.' Nanoha shook her head, staring at the target again. "That was a great shot." Nanoha complemented, eyeing Fate's perfect bullseye.

Fate smiled, nodding her head, "Thanks.", but soon Fate's smile disappeared and turned into a frown. "It's already time... Regrettably, I need to go now. I have some work I need to attend to. It was nice meeting you Nanoha. Hope we'll meet again soon." Fate told her with a sad tone coating her voice.

Nanoha nodded her head, feeling sad that Fate had to leave, while hoping that they'll truly meet again. "Same for me, and thanks for your advices. Bye Fate." Nanoha told her, watching as she turned to leave.

Fate paused in front of the door as she gripped the handle. "Bye Nanoha", Fate said as she tilted her head back to look at Nanoha one more time and beamed at mere idea of seeing her again.

Nanoha watched as the blond-haired officer closed the door behind her; soon having her mind filled with thoughts. 'I hope we meet again... Fate... I like her name... and she's really beautiful... She was so cute blushing... and she's good at shooting too...', Nanoha thought to herself, feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks; her whole face was tinted red as the little sweat she accumulated evaporated off her cheeks.

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As the blond-haired police woman made her way back to her Commander for the second demonstration, thoughts started to pile up in her mind. 'Nanoha... Nanoha... She's so cute... I wonder what's this appointment she has with Hayate... Maybe I should ask Hayate about this... but wait... if I ask her something like this, she'll let her imagination run... But still... Nanoha... her smile... I can't get that adorable smile out of my mind... and her cute blushing face... I hope I see her again...', she thought, as a wide beaming smile slowly appeared on her face.

Seated at her desk, Hayate watched as her childhood friend slowly entered her office, sitting at the chair in front of her without saying anything, with such a smile that she couldn't just ignore it. She was definitely sure that the blond-haired would still be angry at her, yet in front of her there was just a spaced out Fate, smiling for no apparent reason. Curious to know what had happened to her, the brunette decided to ask. "Fate, what's up?...", she asked, but no response was received. " Fate?... Fate, are you hearing me?", she asked again, but still no reply. Seeing so, Hayate stood up and walked to Fate, sitting on the desk, right in front of her. "Fate?", she called while snapping her fingers in front of her friend's face.

Surprised to see Fate in this state, Hayate chuckled. 'Seriously, what happened to her?', she thought, wanting to know what was causing her childhood friend to smile that way. "Officer Harlaown", she suddenly shouted, causing the blonde to jump on the spot. Her wine red pupils shrunk in surprise for a moment, before her mind drifted off a certain long chestnut haired girl to her best friend, who was standing in front of her with an amused look.

Fate felt her heart wanting to jump out of her chest from the surprised. "What?", she shouted as she took a deep breath to calm down; her eyes returned to their normal size, but her cheeks reddened considerably! She'd been so focused on thinking about Nanoha that her brain hadn't registered where she was until Hayate shouted like that.

"What, you say? I should be saying that. What's wrong with you? I've been calling out to you, but you kept ignoring me. Tell me, what's on your mind?", Hayate asked curiously as she poked Fate's shoulder playfully, before leaning to sit back against the top of her slightly messy desk that was littered with paperwork, various note's, files, and her laptop PC. Hayate's right leg crossed over her left and she crossed her arms, stubbornly awaiting Fate's explanation for those goo goo eyes she previously had going on.

Fate slightly blushed, remembering that charming smile Nanoha had. She immediately shook her head, not wanting to let her friend know what happened earlier or what she was just thinking about. "Nothing... N-nothing happened.", she replied too quickly, tilting to hide her blush as it darkened to dangerous levels when Hayate gave her an all knowing look.

Hayate grinned, noticing the blood collecting in Fate's cheeks causing a blush to accumulate upon her friend's face; even though she tried her damndest to hide it. "It's because of a pretty girl, isn't it.", she stated half-jokingly, but soon received a confirmation as Fate's face only darkened. "Jackpot. I'm right, am I?", she asked, wanting to receive a more direct confirmation. She watched Fate nervously play with the hem of her skirt.

"N-no, it's n-not. I t-told y-you it's n-nothing.", she stuttered as her face started to darken with darker shades of red. "C-Come on. W-we have work to do, r-right. The s-second demonstration should s-start s-soon. Let's get g-going then. W-we have n-no t-time to w-waste." Fate told Hayate, wanting to slap herself in the face for stuttering so much in front of Hayate of all people.

The brunette mischievously grinned. "Oh Fate, you're right. We should get going... Ah, but make sure to check that sudden speech problem you have... Since there's nothing on your mind that is making you nervous, I wonder what your problem could ever be... Make sure to check it out.", she said in a playful voice giving her a wink as she stood up to make her way out of her office.

Fate eyed her brunette friend, knowing that her friend since childhood was too crafty when it comes to these things. Knowing that whatever she said would be used against her by Hayate, she remained quiet and slowly chased after her to view the second group demonstration. She could already see from Hayate's body language that this was far from over...

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As the two arrived at the Practice Firing Range, the long-haired blonde suddenly beamed at the view of one certain long-haired brunette, who corresponded the same joyous feeling, but also with a slight shade of red tinting on her cheeks.

Hayate grinned slyly, raising her eyebrows up and down several times, elbowing Fate at the side. "What's this Fate? I see, I see... Ah, it seems there's no need for the demonstration then, right Fate?", she said with a teasing voice. She looked at her friend, finding her staring at the long-haired brunette, eyeing her as if this young candidate was her most precious rifle, passed down to her by her adoptive father Clyde. Hayate chuckled at her behavior and slowly made way to the long-haired brunette, stopping right in front of her. "Hello again Officer Takamachi. I have one small question just for you which I'd like you to answer.", Hayate stated, mischievously smiling as the long-haired brunette's expression changed into a curious one, as she raised an eyebrow at her questionably. "Would you like to become the _partner_of this spaced-out blonde knuckle head behind me?", she said, slowly turning her head to slightly view Fate.

Fate immediately glared at Hayate for the blunt question she asked. "Hayate!", Fate whined as her cheeks darkened, almost matching her burgundy eyes. She wanted to know the answer, yet at the same time she feared what the long-haired brunette would reply. Her palms began to sweat profusely, awaiting Nanoha's answer.

Nanoha instantly nodded her head. "Yes! Yes, I'd love too... I mean, I would be honored to work with Officer Harlaown.", she replied pausing for a second as shades of red made way on her cheeks. "That is if Fate doesn't mind.", Nanoha added quickly, holding her hands up in a defensive position to try and keep some space between her and the Commander who'd asked the question.

Fate's eyes widened a fraction in surprise before her expression turned into one of total happiness from the answer, with her lips changing into a sweet and attractive smile, while her eyes sparkled out with utter joy.

The Commander couldn't help but chuckle; leaning more forward into Nanoha's personal space, giving the girl a sly look. "I have to ask, how did you know Officer Harlaown's full name if she still hasn't presented herself?", Hayate asked all knowingly, trying to make the off centered chestnut haired give up everything that Fate wouldn't earlier.

The question caused the two to get flustered. Hayate was a cunning one when it came down to these things. Something as small as already knowing each other's name had surely caused her imagination to go wild with random assumptions of how the two came to meet before the demonstration. The short haired brunette decided to ponder this later and instead focus on stealthily gathering information from the hot brunette that seemed to have her childhood friend riding on the Cloud Nine Express-Line.

The long-haired brunette nodded her head once again as she started to explain. Nanoha lightly scratched her cheek nervously. "About that, I met Fate... I mean, Officer Harlaown some minutes ago at...", Nanoha started.

Before Nanoha could finish the sentence, Fate interrupted her. "Officer Takamachi, there's no need to answer that type of question. Our Commander tends to be extremely noisy sometimes.", she stated as she eyed Hayate from the side, wanting to tell her childhood friend to stick her big nose out of her life... and possible love life.

Hayate chuckled. 'I will know eventually. You can't hide something like this from me. Fate~', she thought as she stared at Fate, smiling impishly. She then turned to Nanoha. "Welcome to our Department, Officer Takamachi. From today on, Officer Harlaown will be your partner. Hope that you two become good partners.", she saluted, causing the two officers to smile and salute back. 'Good partners and hopefully more... I knew I'd find someone. My plans are always a success.', she thought as she smiled back at the two, feeling somehow proud of how today played out.

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**End of Chapter 1**

**Author's Note: **And this is the end of our first chapter. We hope you enjoyed reading the story so far. We'd appreciate if you leave a comment or a review =]. All input and constructive criticisms will be appreciated. Let us know what you think.

Thanks again for taking your time to read our story.

Regards =]  
_ElementalMiko12 _and _nioki-nainai_


	2. Chapter 2: Falling

Joint Fiction ~ _nioki-nainai_ and _ElementalMiko12_

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha or its characters! No copyright infringement was intended ~

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**Author's Note: **Nao and Lyn here we hope everyone's enjoying the story thus far. This will be a pretty long story and one that is a little out of both of our element, but we will try and make regular updates. ^^

Well we've taken up enough time with this small note so have fun reading; HOPE YOU ENJOY!

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**Writing Style:**

Normal text = Narration  
_Italic text = Past events_  
"Double inverted commas = speech"  
'Single inverted comma = thoughts'

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**Take a shot  
****Chapter 2: Falling**

Nanoha woke up with a start as she stretched her arms high above her head, trying to ease her tensed muscles as best as she could before she hopped out of bed. Her long chestnut hair was messy and her face still held this tired look about it as she waltzed across her apartment's hardwood flooring. Her bare feet slapped against it, with each step taken peeling harmlessly off the floor like a sticker. Nanoha's feet soon met the white glossy tiles of her small bathroom, across from where her queen sized bed sat in the midst of her fairly large room. Nanoha looked up, pulling her hair apart which previously somewhat curtained her eyes from being hit with the unwanted sunlight, revealing those pretty blue eyes that managed to enchant a certain blonde haired officer. Nanoha splashed some cool refreshing water against her face to wake herself up. Fate would be soon waiting for her...

Fate was going to teach her a few more things about shooting, even though she was now well aware of her amazing long ranged shooting skills. Nanoha dropped her hands back down into the sink; cupping her hands under the water, gathering a decent amount of water into her hands. The water rippled in her hands as more water rushed from the faucet to her cupped hands. She found herself staring tiredly into the clear liquid as she recalled yesterday's events.

* * *

_"Okay Nanoha, let's see what you've got!", Hayate commanded, pointing over at the target. The group of candidates frowned in not making the cut; why was the Commander even keeping them here, they wondered._

_Fate shook her head. "Nanoha you don't have to...", she began, but soon stopped after Nanoha held up her hand. Fate raised a questioning eyebrow as Nanoha turned to her group and pulled out a mirror, asking one of them to hold it for her. _

_Nanoha pulled off a long duffle bag looking gun case that up till now had been strapped to her back. She pulled out an AI Tactical Eliminator 2 rifle with a 24" stainless steel barrel without a muzzle brake and a 26" with muzzle brake, which is multi-baffle and cylindrical. The rifle also looked to be equipped with Leopold PRW mounts, as well as a 4.5 x14 power Zeiss Conquest Z-Plex scope. _

_Fate's jaw dropped; the gun was simply gorgeous!_

_Nanoha smiled at her family's heirloom that had been passed down from her grandfather to her mother, and now to her. She clipped in her five round magazine; handling the beautiful glossy unscathed rifle with care, as she walked to the candidate with the mirror and faced them, placing the rifle securely against her shoulder. Nanoha instructed the candidate holding the mirror, until she found her sight perfectly aligned like she wanted. Nanoha nodded satisfied, adjusting her gun to her sight in the mirror; seconds later she shot five consecutive times, barely feeling the recoil as the rifle shot. _

_Nanoha grinned a little as she pulled the gun off her shoulder, releasing the guns magazine clip. Smoke was still oozing from the barrel as she repositioned the rifle her family had named Raising Heart._

_As the target came closer, Hayate stared in amazement; for once she was baffled. All the shots had hit within the bullseye and all of them were shot right next to each other, simply making the first hole made by the first bullet bigger with each shot. Hayate turned her gaze to Nanoha as the tall brunette turned to look at Fate, who seemed just as speechless as she was. _

_"Amazing!", someone with short purple hair shouted, while a girl with orange hair pulled up into pigtails, scolded her friend for speaking without being first addressed by a superior._

_Fate finally tore her eyes from the target, watching as Nanoha placed her weapon of choice away with care. "I'm impressed.", Fate told Nanoha, who seemed rather nervous after slinging her gun's bag over her shoulder. Fate grinned, raising her eyebrows in a care to explain manner. "Nanoha, care to explain this to me... I mean, this was perfect, especially compared to how you shot at the Firing Range. Was something wrong earlier?", she asked, having a distinctive guess already as to why she missed that shot, now that she'd seen Nanoha's real shooting skills. _

_Nanoha's cheeks looked as if someone had popped a red paint filled balloon in her face. Her eyes started shifting nervously around the room, soon closing them as she began rubbing the back of her neck to calm her racing nerves. Nanoha opened her eyes and forcefully chuckled. "Um well... you see... um... I'd rather not talk about it... It's a secret.", she replied, eyeing a snickering Hayate and the crowd of participants behind her. _

* * *

Nanoha splashed some water against her face again in hopes of waking herself up a little more. Clapping her hands to grip the front corners of the sink, Nanoha stared at her sleepy state in the mirror as water dripped down her face, leaving this cool and refreshing feeling engulfing her, before smiling to herself. She leaned back off the sink and began removing her usual pajamas, which consisted of an exercise bra and a pair of boxer shorts. Pulling back the white plastic curtain hiding her tub, she stepped in and fiddled with the faucets knobs, adjusting the temperature as the water pooled down at her feet. When it reached the desired temperature, Nanoha pulled up the small lever at the end of the silver coated faucet, letting her shower head rain warm water droplets all over her, further waking her once sleepy body.

* * *

Fate pulled into the driveway of Nanoha's home and just as she went to turn off the engine, Nanoha rushed out of her house in a baby blue exercise bra and mid-thigh black shorts. Fate's eyes scanned over her and she forced herself to quickly look away when she felt a little blood trickling down her chin. She found herself deeply thankful to Nanoha's neighbors for stopping her before she could get to the car as they started up a little small chat with her. Fate didn't give much importance to what the chat was about and quickly grabbed hold of the box of tissues that she kept in her glove compartment. She pulled down her sun visor and rapidly wiped away any traces of blood in record time. "I will Miss Fernandez! Thanks and take care!", Nanoha's voice rang out, causing Fate to quickly hide all evidence away before Nanoha could see.

Opening the car's door, Nanoha quickly entered inside and sat down, buckling her seatbelt. As soon as Nanoha was ready, Fate shifted gears and began to back out of the brunette's driveway to begin their journey to their destination. Nanoha couldn't help herself but to periodically steal glances of Fate, who was wearing the same outfit as her, aside from the different exercise bra color which was black and yellow instead.

They exchanged some small talk on their way to Fate's favorite running area; Fate told her that she had always gone running there since she was in high school. Nanoha smiled finding out that Fate had once been the leader of her school's track team and that she had a chance to go to the Olympic, but declined the opportunity to go.

Nanoha smiled as Fate stopped the car, parking along side of the entrance road. "I was also in a track team, but I wasn't the leader." Nanoha told her partner as she opened the passenger door, before slipping out of the car and off the nice leather interior of Fate's car. It gave a slight creak at her movements as she stepped onto the curb while a light wind slapped at her cheeks, giving this hot and sunny day a refreshing feel.

Small birds of various species gathered lazily on the tall black metal fence which surrounded the park; leaving the entrances around the park's sides as the only point of entry. Many birds sang songs while others danced, chased or hunted for worms by attacking the harmless ground beneath them. The tall thick trees shook, releasing a few leaves from their tied down prison as they fluttered about in the wind before eventually skidding down to a stop on the ground. Sound of children's laughter echoed all around, as they played games like soccer, football, baseball and hide and seek amongst friends.

Fate chuckled closing her driver-side door, planting her hand over the hood of her car, running her hand over its smooth surface, slowly walking around the front of her glossy black vehicle. As she stepped onto the curb, Fate removed her hand from her car's hood and began fiddling with her long hair as she pulled it back into big pigtails at either side of her head.

Flashing Nanoha a toothy grin, Fate broadly smiled, slapping her hand against Nanoha's, signaling her that they were going to move. Leading her through the entrance, Fate showed Nanoha where the runners track was and soon she began jogging, followed by Nanoha.

Running along the track, Nanoha kept looking around, admiring the beautiful environment surrounding them. "Wow, this is gorgeous!", Nanoha said, jogging at Fate's pace. A majority of the trees hung over the trail keeping any joggers out of direct sunlight. There were also several small snack carts set up around the area.

"Yeah... gorgeous.", Fate mumbled, staring into Nanoha's brilliant blue eyes as they sparkled with life. 'Her eyes... they're so beautiful... I would stare into them for hours if I could... It's like there's a whole world behind them... A world I want to know...', she thought, paying no attention to the beautiful alignment of the trees or their beautiful multiple color range from green, to yellow, to orange, to red, and brown.

Nanoha turned to Fate and noticeably blushed when she caught Fate's completely enchanted stare. 'Are we talking about the same thing?', the tall brunette wondered. Her off center chestnut pony tail bobbed around as her blonde pigtails companion jogged beside her. "Fate?", Nanoha started, trying to snap her out of this trance but had no success. "Fate... Fate, oh my god, watch out!", Nanoha yelled trying to stop her partner before it was too late.

* * *

Fate groaned, rubbing her head as she laid down sprawled out on the ground, feeling slightly dizzy as she watched little dancing Nanoha's circle her head shaking maracas. Now with a head pounding headache, Fate returned to the real world with a nice conk to the noggin.

Nanoha dropped down next to the blonde who had fallen back on her butt and was now nursing that nice irritated knot that formed due to her running into a metal pole. "Fate, are you okay?", Nanoha asked, concerned of Fate's well-being.

The blonde shook her head, blinking a couple of times before looking up to her partner. "Yeah, yeah… I was lost in thought and got distracted for a second... I'm ok, don't worry...", she said as she slightly smiled, not wanting to worry her partner. Fate watched Nanoha hug her arms around her knees.

Nanoha released a heartfelt sigh as she tilted her head to the side, slightly giving Fate a small smile of relief. "You scared me for a second. What were you thinking about?", she asked, finding herself curious as to what had distracted her blonde haired partner so much that caused her to bump into a metal pole.

As Fate registered the question and tried to find an answer, various shades of red appeared on her face as blood gathered and took residence in her cheeks. "I… I um… N-nothing… D-don't w-worry…", she stuttered, feeling too embarrassed to say the truth.

Those nice shades of red didn't go unnoticed by the long-haired brunette. Feeling more curious, Nanoha decided to try and find out. "Come on, tell me!", she said, extending her hand to Fate to help her stand up from the ground.

Fate gently grabbed Nanoha's hand and smiled happily, feeling that soft and smooth touch her partner had. "It's a secret… But let's make a deal. If you tell me what distracted you last time, I'll tell you what distracted me just now. What do you think?", Fate asked, knowing already what answer she should expect to receive as she slowly tried to get back up.

Nanoha blushed, letting go of the grip from Fate's hand, causing the blonde to fall back down.  
Fate immediately chuckled as she received the expected answer. "Should I take that as a no?", she asked in a playful tone. She still couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

Nanoha giggled while nodding her head. "Yeah… but I may accept if you manage to catch me.", she replied with a teasing tone as she gave Fate a wink and a mischievous smile, waiting for an answer. The wind tickled at her ears as a squirrel scurried across the grass, clawing its way up one of the trees.

Fate raised an eyebrow. 'Okay maybe I didn't know.', she thought, before she started smiling like someone who had won the lotto, giving a single nod with her head. "Deal!", she replied, happy with the idea of playfully chasing Nanoha. 'This should be an easy win!' Fate thought, recalling her high school speed rank when she was the track team's leader. She'd been by far the fastest in the state!

With the anticipated answer received, Nanoha dashed away from her partner, running deeper into the park. Fate quickly stood up, sprinting to run after her. Watching intently as Nanoha weaved in and out of trees trying to lose her view. Nanoha hopped over some bushes and succeeded in vanishing from Fate's view.

'What in hell, where'd she go?!' Fate thought, as she skid to a stop spinning around on her heels, looking for any trace of the brunette. Fate sighed closing her wine red eyes, letting her sense of hearing take over all her senses. There were chirps, whistles, squeaks, squawks, laughter, far off stomps, ruffling leaves over her head, and a loud crunch sound that reminded her of snapping twigs. Fate grinned, spinning around and diving blindly into the thick bush; she narrowly missed catching Nanoha by the waist as she hopped back, making Fate do a faceplant into a pile of leaves. Several more attempts later led to similar failures as Fate once again laid face first in the dirt.

Nanoha laughed, panting heavily as she spun around, dashing off again; this time taking refuge behind a thick tree. Nanoha took in a few deep breaths; she hadn't expected Fate to find her like that! Nanoha smiled, bringing her hands and forearms to press against her chest, as she gathered her wits about her to peek around the side of the tree to locate her cute blonde partner. Nanoha's cheeks darkened. 'Cute blonde partner, what am I thinking?!' she thought, as she turned curiously when she heard no movement. Looking around the tree, she startled when she didn't see a trace of Fate anywhere. Seeing so, Nanoha stepped out from behind the tree cautiously.

Fate snickered. "Gotcha!", Fate laughed out, appearing from the skies above the brunette, tackling Nanoha to the ground when she spun around to meet Fate unexpectedly dropping out of nowhere. 'She was in the tree waiting for me to move?!', Nanoha thought, as Fate pinned her arms over her head grinning triumphantly, heavily panting in desperate need of breath.

Nanoha pouted. "That… was... not… fair…", she said, attempting to take a breath between every word said. Sweat dripped back into her hair as she stared up at an equally tired and sweaty Fate. She found herself chuckling. 'I'm glad I gave you a run for your money... She looks so sexy right now...', Nanoha thought as she went wide eyed out of shock by her own bold thoughts.

Fate playfully smiled. "We didn't... set rules... You have... to tell m..." Before she could finish the sentence, Fate got interrupted by the sound of a barking dog. Taking a deep breathe, Fate gulps as she felt a cold chill up her spine. "I know this bark...", she said, speaking in a low voice. Lifting her head up to search for the source of the bark, Fate notices a grinning Hayate with two dogs by her side. 'Of all the people I could meet, it had to be her...', Fate thought while forcefully trying to smile at her childhood friend. "H-hey", she said, mentally cursing Madam Lady Luck inside her head for always playing these kinds of tricks on her at the worst possible times.

Hayate gave them an out of character cheshire cat grin which stretched itself across her face as she raised her eyebrows teasingly. "Well, what do we have here~? So this is why you couldn't walk Arf today.", Hayate spoke in the teasing all-knowing tone; a tone that Fate hated with a passion! The two women on the ground blushed a light tint of pink.

Fate quickly stood back up, brushing herself off. "It's not what you think...We came here to j-jog a...", Fate started as she helped Nanoha to her feet. Now that they weren't so close, she could think clearly again; Fate's cheeks suddenly darkened, realizing how close they had been moments ago. 'I-I can't believe I pinned her down like that...', Fate thought, as she could still feel Nanoha's warmth that had transferred to her legs from straddling her sides.

Hayate interrupted her childhood friend, closing her eyes as she waved a finger at Fate in front of her, giving her a teasing grin. "Fate, Fate, Fate. There's no need to explain. I'm glad you chose to use your FREE time WISELY.", Hayate told her, adding quotations with her fingers when she said the words free and wisely to emphasize them, as she stepped closer to the pair. She then turned her smile to Nanoha. "Fate you should just take her to a hotel and get it over with already. You know you... Youch!", she yelled with tears in her eyes as she hopped around on one foot, dropping Arf's leash down to hold the foot that Fate had just stomped on with her now free hand.

Fate planted her foot back on the ground next to her as she watched her friend bounce around with an annoyed look on her face. The now free dog rushed to Fate while the other sat idly by, watching his master bounce around in place for several more seconds.

Hayate pointed at Fate with tears in her eyes. "Zafira, auntie Fate hurt me. Sick her!", she whined to the huge police dog that stood to her mid-thigh in height. He tilted his head at his master for a moment, before following her finger with his head to meet Fate's gaze. Zafira's ears twitched as he stood up and did a few circles around Hayate. "Ah... Wait Zaf...", Hayate started, only to fall face first into the ground.

Fate laughed hysterically, watching as Zafira plopped butt down on Hayate's back; all that was missing from this picture was Zaffy bringing his paw up and saluting.

Nanoha frowned looking down at her leg, finding the dog that had been loving up on Fate a minute ago, was trying to push her away and was now growling at her. Had she done something wrong?

"Arf be nice. Nanoha this is Arf; Arf this is Nanoha!", Fate introduced after tugging Arf away from Nanoha, hoping to stop her from growling at the tall brunette.

Nanoha smiles, lowering down on her knees. "Hello Arf. Nice to meet you.", she said sweetly, slowly extended her hand to pet Arf, soon pulling it away as the dog showed her its teeth. The dogs ears pinned themselves down against its skull and the fur on Arf's neck spiked up as she knelt down low to the ground in attack position.

"Arf!", Fate shouted, tugging once again the leash to make her stop. "Don't do that.", she continued, lowering down in front of Arf. Seeing her control partner shouting at her, Arf stopped and lowered down, looking up at Fate, giving off a whine. "Good girl. You shouldn't growl at Nanoha. She's my friend and work partner. You can't do that, ok?", she asked as she started petting Arf's head.

Nanoha watched as Fate started talking with her dog and was now expecting some kind of answer, which she soon received. Arf jumped at Fate, pinning her control partner down while licking the blonde's face. The brunette admired the scene as her partner happily smiled and laughed at the dog's behavior. 'She looks like she's enjoying herself... That honest smile... You can really tell that she's happy by this... Arf seems to be happy too... Well, she has all reason to be...', she thought as she started eyeing Arf.

Fate was struggling to get up. "Arf... Arf, stop that... come on.", she said as she tried to make Arf stop licking her face. "Arf, no more... I love you too... Let me get up now...", Fate said, watching as her dog moved to a side to let her get up. Standing back up on her knees, Fate smiled, petting Arf's head. "Good girl.", the blonde said, planting a gentle kiss above Arf's nose before she started lightly scratching Arf's sensitive ears.

"Lucky dog", Nanoha whispered in a low voice as she closed her eyes, lightly scratching at her cheek, embarrassed at feeling somehow jealous of Arf. Blood gathered to her cheeks as images of her kissing Fate flashed through her head, unconsciously wiping away some of the drool with the back of her hand.

Unfortunately for Nanoha, someone happened to hear that whisper, snapping her out of her amazing fantasy. "Oh ho ho, what was that Nanoha? Did I hear that correctly? Could you repeat it again?", Hayate asked, grinning at what the long haired brunette has just said. As she continued to struggle to get out of her predicament on the ground, Zafira had gotten up and was now trying to help her, after she promised him a treat when they got back.

Nanoha felt her cheeks suddenly burn up again as she nervously waved her hands in front of herself, trying to deny what she mumbled moments ago. "N-nothing... I d-didn't s-say a-anything...", she stuttered, feeling stupid that she had let that thought slip out of her lips.

Hayate stood as the leash untangled and she tapped lightly at her clothes ridding them of dirt. Seeing Nanoha's behavior, she couldn't help herself but to chuckle, dropping down in front of Zafira. "Someone isn't being sincere here; with us and with her feelings. Am I right, Zafira?", she asked while petting her dog's head. Zafira immediately howled, causing Hayate to laugh and turn facing Nanoha. "See, he agrees too.", she said, causing Nanoha's cheeks to turn into various darker shades of red.

The laughter caught the attention of the blonde haired. Turning back to her friend and partner, Fate finds her childhood friend chuckling while her partner was heavily blushing. "What did I miss?", she asked curiously, wanting to know what could possibly make Nanoha blush in such a cute manner.

Hayate mischievously grinned while standing back up, giving a playful pat on Nanoha's shoulder. "Nothing Fate. You missed absolutely nothing, right Nanoha?", she asked, enjoying the reactions the long haired brunette was having. Hayate snickered at her new officer as she watched her whole face turn red, with smoke rising off her cheeks as her eyes shined shyly with embarrassment.

Nanoha nervously nodded her head, agreeing with Hayate. "Y-yes. Y-you d-didn't m-miss a-anything F-Fate.", she replied, wanting to bury herself from the embarrassment of stuttering like an idiot with a schoolgirl's crush, and also the idea of Fate finding out what she had said didn't help calm her nervousness either.

Fate raised an eyebrow at the two as she gave them a slow not so convinced nod with her head, deciding to get Nanoha to tell her soon... She did after all win their little game of cat and mouse earlier. Fate lightly scratched Arf's orange fur; making it official in her mind that she'd get Nanoha to tell her at some point, 'Even if...', she thought, pausing long enough to smirk, 'I have to pin her again.', she continued as her heart started pounding against her chest at the engraved memory that was now saved in her memory bank.

When Hayate finished tapping the dirt off her clothes, she readjusted her shirt, removing the unneeded wrinkles. "Alright let's head to the department... and Fate...", Hayate said in a serious tone as she grabbed her blue furred companion's leash, kneeling down to Arf's level, petting her head. She looked up, finding Fate raising a questioning eyebrow at her. The short haired brunette broke out into a grin. "Nanoha sure is right... Arf is a lucky dog!", she told Fate, flashing Nanoha a devilish smile as she walked away with Zafira, giggling evilly behind her hand.

"Hayate!", Nanoha screeched loudly, running after the short haired brunette, ready to pound her for letting that slip, while Fate was left there to stare into space and process what just left her friend's mouth. Hayate screamed in the distance as she realized that the long haired brunette was already on her tail. She decided it was best if she hauled her ass back to Fate's parked car, also in hopes of giving the two some 'alone time'. As things quieted down, the three made their way back to the car with their two four-legged companions.

* * *

**End of Chapter 2**

**Author's Note: **And this is the end of our second chapter. We hope you enjoyed reading the story so far. We'd appreciate if you leave a comment or a review =]. All input and constructive criticisms will be appreciated. Let us know what you think.

Thanks again for taking your time to read our story.

Regards =]  
_ElementalMiko12 _and _nioki-nainai_


	3. Chapter 3: Glimpse

Joint Fiction ~ _nioki-nainai_ and _ElementalMiko12_

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha or its characters! No copyright infringement was intended ~

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone ~ Sorry for the wait, ladies and gents. We hope everyone's enjoying the story so far. We had a lot of good ideas for this chapter and had to sort a bit through them. We would like to thank all those that are reading our story, have followed it or favored it, and of course, that left us reviews =]. We appreciate. Now to continue, we've already taken up too much of your time with reading this little note, so here's our next chapter.

o.- Enjoy guys -.o

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**Writing Style:**

Normal text = Narration  
_Italic text = Past events_  
"Double inverted commas = speech"  
'Single inverted comma = thoughts'  
Phone/Walkie Talkie Conversations

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**Take a shot  
****Chapter 3: Glimpse**

Still feeling nervous and embarrassed, Nanoha decided it was best to sit in the backseat as they drove to the police department; wanting to avoid as much contact with the Commander as possible. She still couldn't believe that Hayate had spilled that out and what was worse... she said it right in front of Fate!

Nanoha looked out of the window, observing all the passing buildings and people walking on the sidewalks, trying to force her mind to think of something else to help her get rid of this growing red tint that she had, which Fate was bound to notice if she didn't get control of it.

Little did she know, but Fate had already noticed it. The blonde haired was still trying to digest Hayate's last comment; a comment which had Nanoha blushing madly and which arose the need of chasing Hayate around to attack her. Fate's eyes shifted various times, wandering to her rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of the beautiful maiden in her backseat who was staring out of the window, viewing the various people in the streets. Fate forced her eyes back on the road, but soon Hayate chuckled, catching Fate's attention.

"Fate, you're so slow sometimes, but I have to admit, it's one of the cutest things about you!", Hayate told her as she slightly glanced at the tall brunette, noticing that Nanoha was completely zoned out on staring at the pedestrians outside. Seeing so, Hayate decided to take advantage of this and began explaining to Fate what they had been talking about before Nanoha began chasing after her in the park. What Nanoha didn't know wouldn't hurt her right... or in this case make her mad!

Nanoha's eyes followed this one woman in an unwrinkled business suit who was holding the hand of a small child who seemed to be crying. The small blonde child's clothes were dirty as if she'd just finished playing in the mud. Compared to the older woman next to her, which Nanoha assumed was the child's mother, her clothes looked like sown rags together! Who would let their child walk around like that?! In the split second as they were about to pass them, the little girl tilted her head towards the street as if she knew someone had their eyes on her. Nanoha's eyes widened as her eyes locked on the little girl's, who was now staring at her.

Fate noticed Nanoha's eyes staring outside the window, as she sat with her arm propped up on the nearby door's interior with her fist resting up against her lower jaw line, following a certain woman in the crowd, causing the blonde haired to suddenly feel slightly jealous. As she hit the brake to stop the car at a stoplight, Fate couldn't wait to hit the gas again and make the woman vanish from Nanoha's eyes, but it seems it was as if the lights were working against her. Hayate was also now laughing at her, which didn't help either.

Those heterochromatic eyes stared at Nanoha's; that little child's eyes which reflected pain, sorrow, curiousness, and now, a little tiny bit of wonder. Nanoha pulled her clenched fist from beneath her chin, slapping her hands to the glass as the car started moving. She followed the young girl's eyes till they vanished from her view.

Fate watched in the rearview mirror as Nanoha's hands slipped down the window, leaving a foggy hand smear behind due to her body heat. Fate quickly shook her head, focusing back on the traffic in front of her. The station wasn't very far off now; just a block or two away.

* * *

As soon as Fate parked, Hayate stepped out of the car, allowing Zafira to hop out behind her from the backseat. Fate smiled as she got out, noticing that Arf had curled up and fallen asleep with her head resting over Nanoha's lap. She watched as Nanoha woke her up by lightly scratching Arf's ears. Arf rolled over, sticking out her tongue as Nanoha moved her hand to rub at her stomach.

Arf's leg twitched at first before it started slapping at the car's interior really fast, gradually slowing to a stop as soon as Nanoha stopped scratching the overgrown puppy's belly with a giggle. Arf immediately whined in protest and rolled over more, hoping to get Nanoha to do it again. Arf's ears twitched as Nanoha stepped out of the car and tapped lightly on her knee. "Come on Arf; maybe later.", Nanoha told to one of the finest K9 Unit, who seemed to be pouting at the moment.

Fate giggled at the scene. "Let's go Arf.", the tall blonde officer told her with a smile as she came to walk next to Nanoha. Arf just rolled over again and whined, causing Nanoha to chuckle as she leaned back inside the car to sit next to Arf so that she could scratch the waiting dog's belly.

"Well well Fate, you two seem to be getting rather close after knowing each other for only a day.", Hayate told Fate with a teasing expression on her face.

Fate blushed a little as she stared into her car, watching the K9 she had worked with since she joined the department, now getting along with her new partner after the little jealousy spat the both of them seemed to have at the park. "W-we're n-not t-that c-close.", Fate stuttered, turning to a grinning Hayate.

Nanoha slipped out of the back seat again, this time with Arf following close behind her. She intertwined her hand with Fate's and started tugging her off towards the station. "Come on Fate. Let's hit the showers!", Nanoha told her as they walked hand in hand to the station's doors.

Fate stared at their joined hands for what seemed like forever, before closing her hand around Nanoha's. 'It's so soft and warm...', she thought as Hayate ran to catch up with them.

Walking next to Fate, Hayate snickered. "Oh yeah, not close at all~." Hayate told her slyly, practically skipping her way to the station with Zafira rushing in by her side, ready for something to drink and eat, and maybe even a small nap after his exercise.

The blood in the blonde's body suddenly redirected to her cheeks as she registered Nanoha's previous words... 'S-s-showers!?', she thought, slapping her free hand over her face, trying to get rid of the various mental visions of her partner in the shower which had immediately invaded her mind, making her heart pound fast against her ribcage. 'I'm going to need a miracle to get through this.', Fate thought.

Hayate waved at them, chuckling at her childhood friend's behavior. "Fate, I have the new uniforms ready for the two of you. They're in your shower lockers. They arrived late yesterday. After you get dressed; I need to discuss something with you. Don't worry, I'll make sure to have someone with me to catch Nanoha up with everything while we discuss things, and while we're talking, she'll introduce her to the others.", she shouted as she mischievously grinned before continuing, "And also the two of you, have fun in the showers~"

* * *

Nanoha led to the showers quite well, considering she'd never been there before. Had someone given her a tour already? She seemed to know the place almost inside and out, as they wandered through the different hallways. Nanoha pushed open the door with ease that was labeled, 'Showers - Ladies Only', entering inside as the door creaked shut behind them. As they walked into the room, they came face to face with three walls of black glossy lockers. Some of the lockers held locks while others didn't.

Nanoha rushed to the locker she'd picked yesterday and stuffed the small shoulder bag she'd brought into it right after skillfully popping open the lock in a matter of seconds. Fate followed suit, before walking down another corridor in the large shower room. It branched off again. One wall held towels while the other had various items; like small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, among other necessities.

Fate who brought her own stuff, continued on to the shower room ahead of her, placing her stuff on a long bench in the middle of the room, before heading off into one of the small open stalls that barely covered her upper chest. Fate blushed a little at the thought of being a little exposed in front of Nanoha, but on the other hand... Nanoha would be exposed to her as well, so it the end it kinda evened things out!

Fate messed with the faucet, suddenly flinching when the cold water hit her, quickly adjusted the water to her desired temperature. Fate sighed, tilting her head up to the water, letting the shower head rain endless droplets of water on her face. The sound of the water droplets reminded her of plastic beads dropping onto a tiled floor. The sound drowned out everything, isolating her for a few seconds, letting a certain brunette slip passed her radar.

Nanoha decided to take the stall next to Fate, but only after staring at her for a long moment, feeling captivated by the slightest movements made by Fate. She cursed Madam Lady Luck for a moment because of the stalls, though she had to admit that they didn't cover much overall. Nanoha shook her head as she dropped her stuff off next to Fate's, before slipping into the stall next to her blonde partner. She turned on the water, letting the warm water soak her long brown hair.

"Um... N-Nanoha if you want, you can use my Shampoo and Conditioner; those don't work all that well.", Fate told the brunette after realizing she'd been standing there, allowing the water to coat over her body.

Nanoha looked at Fate through her dripping wet bangs which were now almost plastered to her face. "O-Okay, thanks!", Nanoha said quickly, liking the idea of coming out of this sweet-smelling like Fate. Nanoha flashed the blonde a smile and felt slightly startled to see Fate turn away quickly, submerging her face in the raining water once again. 'Wonder what's wrong...', Nanoha thought as she reached over to where Fate kept the bottles, on a metal square holder that hooked to the sides of the stalls. After dabbing a little shampoo on her hands, she scrubbed her hands together for several seconds and started to rub it at the roots, down to the ends.

Fate brought her hand up to her face under the water, hoping to wipe the blood that has just dripped from her nose, which blended well enough with the water. Thankfully, Nanoha didn't seem to notice that the water wasn't completely clear anymore. Wanting to be sure, Fate tilted her head to check and see if Nanoha had noticed or not.

Fate's eyes widened a fraction as her vision caught a glimpse of the upper part of brunette's chest as Nanoha lifted up her arms to begin lathering the soap into her hair, exposing herself a little more to blonde's wandering eyes. More blood trickled down her chin, quickly turning back to the water, letting it wash away the redness dripping out of her nose. 'So that's what heaven is like.', Fate thought as she sighed. She had no choice but to agree with Hayate now; Nanoha was beyond sexy. She could hear it now... 'Hayate is totally going to tell me I told you so!', she thought, somehow feeling a lot less irritated than she would normally be.

The blonde officer closed her eyes, placing her head under the direct water. 'Dammit... Whenever I look at her, I feel blood rushing to my head... I need to stop this... but how... I... I need to stop looking... I just need to stop looking... Damn, so close yet so far...' Fate turned around, giving her back to Nanoha, knowing that a direct look at the brunette's body would only cause her to burn up.

'Ah... She turned around... Hmm... I wonder if something's wrong with Fate... She looked so happy earlier... but now, she seems to be so nervous... I wonder if something happened... I wonder if I did something wrong...', Nanoha thought as she stared at her partner's back, watching the water flow down from the blonde's head and down onto her back, until it wasn't visible anymore as the visual was blocked by the stall's wall.

Leaning her head back to let some water slap down on her face again, Fate couldn't help herself but to try and steal another glance of the brunette, noticing that Nanoha was staring at her. 'Is she looking at me... I wonder... Maybe... Maybe not... Something's wrong...', she thought, nervous that someone was watching her. "Nanoha!?... Nanoha, is something wrong?", she asked, feeling somewhat concerned.

Nanoha suddenly shook her head, slightly blushing as she turned facing the faucet. "Ah, no no... I just spaced out for a moment... Sorry about that...", she replied, feeling the heat starting to form at her cheeks. 'What was I doing... staring like that at her and then spacing out... She... She showed concern for me. Maybe I should say something...', she thought, quickly turning around to face her blonde partner. 'She turned around again... Dammit... Well not really... She looks fantastic...', she thought as she started scanning the available visual of her partner.

Fate washed her face, trying to clear her mind from tempting thoughts. 'Why can't I calm down... Seriously... Maybe, I've been spending too much time around Hayate... She actually managed to corrupt my mind...', she thought, releasing a sigh before continuing. 'What am I saying... I can't blame Hayate if I'm feeling attracted to Nanoha... Nanoha... dammit... A quick look won't hurt...', she thought, slowly turning around, finding the brunette staring at her. "Na-no-ha?", Fate called, receiving no response. 'Is... Is Nanoha staring at me?... I wonder what she thinks about me...', she quickly thought before trying to call out her partner again. "Nanoha!?", the blonde tried again.

Nanoha twitched in surprise when called. "Ah... Sorry... I... For some reason I keep losing focus...", she replied, forcefully trying to smile as she turned back, mentally wanting to bang her head against the wall. 'Could I have made it more obvious that I was staring at her... I can't get her off my mind... She looks amazing... Even this morning... She's perfect... She's just perfect... It was fun too... We were so close when she pinned me down... The Commander couldn't have arrived at a worse time... And what did Hayate mean earlier when she said Fate should go to a hotel... Maybe I should ask...', she thought as she turned back facing her partner. 'Dammit... why did she give me her back again... but... her skin... I wonder if it's as smooth as it looks...', she thought, feeling very tempted to reach over and touch Fate to confirm her curiosity. Nanoha had to smack her own hand to stop herself.

Fate turned around, wiping any traces of blood that had formed when she successfully managed to catch a glimpse of the brunette's gorgeous body. 'I can't help myself... I don't know if I should be thankful or not of the department having stalls... No cause I can't see all of Nanoha... Yes because at least I've been given the opportunity to see some of those perfect curves... I should stop thinking this way... I'm so helpless... but I wonder if Nanoha is ok... Why is she losing focusing...? Is it because of me?... No it can't be... or yes... Would explain a lot... I wonder if she's trying to look at me like I am doing with her... Let's see...', she thought as she slightly tilted her head to peek over her shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of where the brunette is looking. She quickly lifted her head, feeling her heart pounding against her chest. 'She's looking this way... Why is my heart beating so fast at the idea of her staring at me?... Maybe she just lost focus again... What am I thinking?... Maybe she's troubled about something... ', she thought, as she turned facing her. "Nanoha, what's on your mind?", she asked.

Nanoha slightly shifted as Fate had suddenly turned, looking at her straight in her eyes. As her brilliant blue met burgundy wine, various shades of red made way on the brunette's cheeks. 'She asked me what's on my mind... How could I tell her that I'm wondering if her skin is as soft and smooth as it looks... This was a bad idea... What should I say?... I need to say something... something... um... today... today... park... jogging... playing... running... pinned... pinned... pinned... dammit, we were so close until we got interrupted... ah!... Hayate...', she thought quickly as she tried to find a more plausible answer than the truth. "Ah, I was just thinking about what Hayate said today... She really likes teasing, doesn't she?", she asked, hoping this would get her off the hook.

Fate mentally sighed, deep down she wished she was the cause of Nanoha spacing out every now and then. "Ah that. Just ignore her... She has the habit of putting her nose into other's business. Let me know if she's troubling you and I'll put her in her place.", Fate replied as she turned to the faucet, hoping the water would calm her down. 'Damn Hayate... She's starting to trouble Nanoha now... I should smack her for this... Always sticking into other's business...', she thought as she released a heartfelt sigh. 'Guess it was just my imagination... Nanoha would never be staring at...' Fate's thoughts got interrupted as she slightly caught a glimpse of Nanoha looking her way again. 'Or is she... Damn, I want to know... Maybe... Maybe I should test it out...', she thought, trying to think of a way how she could check if it's true or not.

Nanoha was once again spaced out, ignoring whatever Fate had said. Their meeting of eyes had caused the long-haired brunette to once again fall into deep thought as she admired the blonde's beauty. 'Her eyes... Those burgundy eyes reflect so much... but they keep changing... They're so beautiful... yet last time I think they reflected loneliness... I wonder if I was wrong... Other times they seemed to be filled with so much life... like when she was with Arf... She looked so happy... I can't understand what she's thin-king...' Nanoha's thoughts got suddenly hazy as her blonde partner had just slightly stretched up, providing a more substantial side view of her body, causing to brunette to heavily blush as she was definitely admiring that body and appreciating the offered view. Nanoha swiftly turned around, facing the faucet directly, hoping that the soothing water would calm the burning feeling she had at her cheeks.

Fate smiled, satisfied to have received such a reaction. 'I was right~... Let's ask again...', she thought as she turned to her partner. "Nanoha~, you're sure you don't have anything else to tell me? You've been staring at me quite a bit since we got in the showers.", she asked, but the only response she received from the blushing brunette was a quick shake with her head which implied no. Fate grinned; she had caught another lucky glimpse of the brunette's perfect body, but more than that, a glimpse of a cute heavily blushing Nanoha. "You know, maybe I should include this in our previous deal~", she said in a playful tone before she continued, "Well, I'm ready. I'm going to get dressed and wait for you in the corner over there; where the bathrooms are.", she said, pointing to where the showers met the area where the bathrooms were located, before walking off and leaving Nanoha deep in thought.

* * *

Slipping out of the shower with reddened cheeks at being caught staring... several times... Nanoha began to dry off while Fate stood off in the corner, completely dressed and hidden from sight as she talked on the phone with someone.

Fate curiously leaned forward, holding her yellow flip phone which had an antenna keychain hooked to it that looked very much like a long-bearded axe. The chained charm rocked forward with her as she looked to see if her partner was dressed. "Yeah mom, I promise I'll be home for dinner sometime, y-ya...", she said as her jaw dropped, observing Nanoha ringing out her hair from dripping water.

Nanoha still hadn't dressed and was now just standing there in a towel, with her long hair draped over her shoulder as she drained it of its watery contents with a little help from an extra towel.

Fate found herself leaning more forward as she unconsciously inspected Nanoha through her towel. The piece of fabric lined with her curves, showing off the brunette's perfect figure.

Nanoha flung her hair back over her shoulder elegantly, allowing it to gracefully fall back into place as it tickled at the back of her knees. The light from the bulbs over the sinks' mirrors lit up her face perfectly, throwing random shadows in the right places on her skin as the tall brunette turned to prop her leg up on the bench.

Fate~, her adoptive mother sang, but Fate couldn't hear her. She couldn't hear anything right now, besides the few water droplets that hit the ground as they fell from the brunette's body...

Nanoha sighed while skillfully rubbing the towel over her leg, quickly drying it from any remaining water. She blushed a little, thinking about being caught red handed several times staring at Fate while in the shower. 'Ugh... I can't believe I did that!... So embarrassing!... What will she think of me now...', Nanoha thought, feeling a lone water droplet fall on her leg as she removed the towel. Shrugging it off, she switched legs and began doing the same to the other.

Fate's heart thumped in her ears as Nanoha moved to the other side, causing the towel to open up a little bit, revealing more of her beautiful slim legs, making the blonde gulp as she unconsciously leaned forward for a better view. When the brunette finished drying her legs, Fate noticed that Nanoha began untying her towel. 'Damn...', Fate thought as she quietly waited.

FATE TESTAROSSA HARLAOWN!, her mother screeched, startling Fate enough to cause her skin to almost jump off her as she lost her balance. The blonde gave a very cute girlish scream before falling down on the tiled floor, letting her phone fall out of her hand as it went skidding across the floor.

Nanoha jumped, startled as she turned around to see Fate lying on the ground. Seeing so, she dropped everything she was doing and ran over to make sure her partner was alright, as Fate sat upright rubbing her head. "Are you okay Fate?", Nanoha asked, kneeling down to Fate's level.

Fate removed the hand which was covering her eyes from her head. As she looked up with one eye closed and the other narrowed with pain, her eyes suddenly widened as she realized the brunette was right in front of her.

Nanoha moved closer, taking hold of the sides of Fate's face to examine the knot she'd gotten earlier from running into Mr. Pole at the park; there was no doubt, she'd irritated it again. While the brunette was still concerned with the big knot on Fate's forehead, the blonde started making inaudible sounds as her jaw fell. The sounds continued for several more seconds before Nanoha decided to speak. "Fate, what's wrong? Does it hurt? I'm getting a lot static, but not any audio.", the brunette told her, but her partner still made sounds like a fish out of water.

Nanoha looked at Fate's eyes which she noticed weren't focused on hers. Wanting to know what was disrupting her, Nanoha followed Fate's visual track, which kept shifting quickly to the side for a couple of times, back and forth off the brunette's body, as different shades of red started making way on the blonde's face.

Nanoha's face suddenly went completely red! Even her ears were red! The full blow blush had even touched down to her neckline. Right now she'd just realized that when she dropped everything, she had literally dropped everything, including the towel that once covered her from Fate's eyes!

* * *

Fate and Nanoha stepped out of the shower room, still looking rather flustered. Fate gathered up whatever courage she had left and turned to Nanoha, and even though this caused Fate's face to redden more, she shook it off. "N-Nanoha... I...", Fate started, only to get interrupted by Hayate, who was running down the hallways towards them, waving at the two while yelling their names, along with her younger cousin, the famous Judge who was walking a few steps behind her.

Skidding to a stop in front of them, Hayate smiled and gave Nanoha thumbs up as she invaded her personal space, causing Nanoha to back up a little. "By the way Nanoha, you look absolutely sexy~!", Hayate squealed before Fate forcefully grabbed the short haired brunette by the back of her shirt, pulling her out of Nanoha's face.

A short redhead with annoyed blue eyes, walked up next to Fate who still had a hold of Hayate. "Sorry about my cousin. She doesn't know the meaning of personal space.", the short redhead told the long haired brunette as she emphasized the words 'personal space' by making an air-box with her fingers as she mentioned them.

"Vita! I do know!", Hayate yelled, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly, with a disobedient look pasted on her face. "I just enjoy closing the gap more~", Hayate told her while sticking her tongue out at her short cousin.

Fate's and Vita's right eyebrow twitched with annoyance while Nanoha chuckled behind her hand. Fate's expression softened as she turned to her giggling partner; she wasn't sure why, but Nanoha's smile was contagious to her. Her lips mirrored Nanoha's bright smile, and as Vita started lecturing her cousin, Fate lightly dropped Hayate back on her feet.

"Hey Nanoha! Mind if I steal your partner for a minute?!", Hayate asked, noticing that their faces were extremely red. 'I wonder what happened?', Hayate thought, smiling as Nanoha gave her an embarrassed nod. "Vita here is not only my cousin, but the famous Judge Iron Hammer of Japan! She's going to introduce you to everyone~", Hayate told the long haired brunette.

"I am?", Vita questioned, staring at her short haired sometimes devilishly devious cousin with a raised eyebrow, who gave her a nod and a quick pleading look. Vita's eyebrow twitched again before giving of an exasperated sigh. "Okay, fine... Let's go um... What's your name again?", the short judge asked.

"Nanoha Takamachi.", the brunette told the short redhead in front of her, holding her hand out to the redhead, making the small Judge stare at her outstretched hand.

Vita smirked. "I like this one. I think she's the only officer you've hired, other than Signum and Fate, who didn't lower themselves to my level... then again... Signum's family and Fate's your childhood friend so I suppose they don't count.", she told Hayate as she slapped her hand into Nanoha's, eyeing the tall brunette in front of her.

Nanoha gave the redhead a gentle smile.

"Okay Nantoka! Let's get this over with!", Vita said, stealing her hand back. Nanoha blushed as soon as Hayate started laughing, correcting her cousin's mistake. Vita blushed, feeling rather embarrassed. "Sorry Nantoka, I'm horrible at names. I promise it won't happen again...", Vita told the brunette, giving her an apologetic bow.

Nanoha sweat dropped. "It's fine. Don't worry about it.", she replied as she fixed the white collared thin material police issued dress shirt, which seemed to hug her chest nicely. She ran her hands down the shirt, smoothing down the various irritating wrinkles, before pulling the ends of her tight black skirt to straighten it out before walking off with Vita. 'She must have a lot of trouble with names.', Nanoha assumed as she followed the short redhead.

Vita led Nanoha around, passing in front of Fate's office and into another one, labeled 'Signum Yagami'. Vita tapped the thick wooden door with the back of her hand, awaiting permission to enter by the office's occupant. "Enter.", a strict, rough and firm tone spoke through the door, allowing them entry. Vita pushed on the door, having a little small issue getting it to open; Nanoha secretly gave her some help by lightly pressing her fingers against the door just above her head.

As the brunette noticed that Vita had felt the door move a little easier, she quickly took her hand off the thick door, just in time before Vita could look up and find her hand there. Vita bowed her head. "Thank you Nantoka.", the redhead told her pausing. "Sorry... Thank you Na-noha.", Vita corrected herself for the long haired brunette, who seemed to be going out of her way to allow her to keep her stubborn form of independence intact.

"No problem Judge Vita.", Nanoha replied, kind of surprised that she had been caught helping the little redhead.

Vita smirked and shook her head. "Nanoha, my friends call me Vita... I'd like you to know that as of now, I consider you on that very short list.", the dark blue eyed redhead told her as she pushed the door open all the way, stepping silently into the room. The room was coated with the bright beaming sunshine that escaped into the room through the huge glass wall that led out into a tiny balcony.

The office looked identical to the one she's now sharing with her blonde partner, except that in a few more days, there will be one more desk in their room. In addition, their office also had an entire bookshelf which took residence behind their desks, completely covering one of the walls, filled with various books. This office looked rather plain, beside the nice collection of Japanese swords that hung safely on the wall behind the dark cherry wood desk, which was occupied by a long bubblegum pink haired woman who was currently holding up a document, staring at it curiously with the back end of a number two pencil in her mouth.

The woman opened her mouth a little, letting the pencil fall to the desk with a bouncing thud as she growled in annoyance, running her hand furiously through her hair. Unorganized papers were scattered all over the desk and upon them, there was a small laptop running, which reflected it's content onto that lone framed picture across the desk, which Nanoha noticed displayed the two women before her with a slightly younger Commander, holding Zafira as he was a pup.

"Still no luck?", Vita asked, recognizing the search program the tall officer was running, watching as the program zoomed through millions of photos in several minutes, listing all the possible match-ups for the suspects that the pink haired woman would soon be looking into.

Looking up, the woman sighed. "Don't even get me started.", she replied tiredly. The pepto bismol pink haired officer placed down the paper, stretching her hand out to Nanoha; someone she realized she'd never met, 'Perhaps one of the newbies.', she concluded. "Hello, I'm Signum Yagami; First Lieutenant, and cousin to Hayate and Vita here.", Signum introduced after the long haired brunette clapped her hand into hers.

"Nanoha Takamachi, pleased to meet you!", Nanoha replied back, giving her hand a firm shake before letting go.

Signum looked at her rather surprised as she said her name. "Ah, so you're the new ace shooter on the block that I've heard so many rumors since yesterday!", Signum said, recalling the various colleagues who told her about this new amazing long-range shooter who has become Fate's partner. "You should introduce me to those shooting skills of yours someday. No offense, it's just I'll believe it when I'll see it with my own eyes.", Signum told her, grabbing hold of a small steaming cup of tea.

Nanoha smirked, waving her hand at Signum. "That's perfectly understandable. Well, if you'd like, I'm free right now...", Nanoha told her, leaving the question to just hang in the air, allowing Signum to mull it over in her head for a several seconds. She could tell that Signum was dying to leave the office, even if just for a minute.

The First Lieutenant took a quick sip from her tea before placing the small cup back down on her desk. "Perhaps I could use a small break.", Signum said professionally, though she still couldn't hide the endless curiosity she had to see Nanoha's skills. It wasn't an everyday thing that they get a new recruit who shoots just as great, if not better, than Fate.

Vita had to admit; she was looking forward to this demonstration as well, but she would never say that out loud. Nanoha winked at them. "Then I'll go get my gun and meet you two at the Firing Range.", she told them, rushing off with a big smile on her face.

Signum chuckled. "She must really enjoy shooting. Well, she is a Range Expert after all.", she told Vita, as they walked through the police department as if they were trying to decipher their way through a complicated maze. Signum swore that no matter how long she works here, she would never engrave the department's layout within her head, but regardless of that, they somehow managed to find it.

As they opened the door, they heard a few guns firing off loudly, letting the sound vibrate throughout the room before bouncing off the walls, echoing back at them. Vita found herself watching the newbies which Hayate had introduced earlier to her practicing. Subaru wasn't too bad, but she wasn't good either. Teana on the other hand was a little rough around the edges; a diamond in the rough if you will, but even so, her skills were quite good and by far better than Subaru's.

Signum grinned as the two newbies placed down their weapons, watching as the targets came closer to examine their shots. The short blue haired girl's aim was a bit laughable at times, but she did manage to get off a few good round shots. Signum's view turned towards the strawberry blonde haired shooter in interest, after eyeing her amazing marksmanship as her target came closer. Signum watched her frown a verbally curse loudly as she noticed she had two stray shots, one of which didn't even hit the target altogether.

A door creaked open behind them, causing them to look over their shoulders to see Nanoha step into the decent sized room that smelled of gunpowder, grease and sweat, with a black duffel bag like gun case draped over her prized shoulder. Nanoha smiled at the two familiar faces of the two other newbie recruits which Hayate had hired along with her. She hadn't gotten the chance to exchange names, but there wasn't a time limit on introductions, was there?

The cadmium orange haired shooter turned to yell at her short blue haired companion as the girl made her blush a wide range of red colors when she popped up behind her, pulling her into a hug as she whined about her horrible shots. The two girls soon turned around as they heard a chuckle, facing Nanoha and the two other seniors. The cadmium orange haired ace shooter immediately shoved her friend away, tapping her feet together as she turned to face them, giving the three newcomers a salute. "Teana Lanster and Subaru Nakajima. It's nice to meet you Ace of Ace shooter Nanoha Takamachi, daughter of Momoko and Shiro Takamachi!" Teana spoke professionally, as she pointed between her and her short haired partner.

The mentioning of her parents shocked Nanoha a little. "How do you know my parents?", she asked with a raised eyebrow, as Signum and Vita exchanged looks from Nanoha to Teana, then back to a star struck Subaru who somehow had stars in her eyes. Nanoha couldn't believe it; someone here, other than Hayate, knew of her mother's Military background?

Subaru smiled, rushing over and clapping her hands around Nanoha's, shaking her hand energetically, almost violently. "Nanoha do you remember me?!", Subaru asked out of excitement and curiosity, as she bounced around in place almost instantly after getting yelled at by Teana for acting so childishly.

Nanoha smiled a little and nodded; the incident hadn't been a hard one to recall. After all, the girl had almost lost her life that day.

Subaru let go Nanoha's hands and started bouncing around, cheering while reenacting the day in question in a childish sugar rushed manner.

Teana roughly grabbed her partner by the back of her shirt's collar. "Subaru, she knows and remembers what happened! There's no need to reenact a scary day like that!", Teana told her as Subaru whined an 'I'm sorry' to Teana and politely apologized to Nanoha. Teana sighed, turning back to Nanoha. "Sorry about her; she gets hyper. Anyway, to answer that question... Your mother used to be my older brother's Military partner before he died. She talked about you all the time to him when they were deployed.", Teana told her with a sad smile.

Nanoha stared at Teana for a long moment as she recalled her mother telling her about her partner from the Sniper Unit she worked in back then, when Nanoha was younger. "I see.", Nanoha told her as she walked over to them, placing her stuff down on the small desk provided, several yards from the target. The wood gave off a soft thud as Nanoha placed the long gun case down; giving the zipper a light tug, it peeled open with ease, revealing her prized black dual assault rifle.

Nanoha ran her fingers lightly over the very gun that once protected her grandfather and mother... a gun that now protected her and everyone in this town. It was smooth and undamaged, as well as refreshingly cool to the touch. She took the fairly heavy rifle into her hands and began putting it quickly together with amazing accuracy for someone who wasn't even looking.

"That was an awesome display yesterday Nanoha!", Subaru complemented, bouncing around again as she watched Nanoha put the rifle together with ease.

Nanoha's eye's shifted to Subaru for a moment and smiled. "Thank you.", she replied, slipping the rifle's magazine in after attaching her sight to the gun's top. Her attention wandered as a female and a male walked in, seemingly having a deep conversation.

The woman wore thick black rimmed glasses over her chocolate brown eyes, while her waist length cinnamon cherry brown hair laid flat against her back.

The male had ridiculously long thigh length blonde hair pulled back into a neck riding ponytail. One could tell just by looks that he was one who loves books, especially by the stack of four thick books that he held with care in his arms while he adjusted his glasses by pushing them up the bridge of his nose, after freeing up a hand by shifting his books around.

The brown-haired suddenly squealed with delight, dashing over to Nanoha in an instant, grabbing hold of Raising Heart; mouthing off about Raising Hearts design before asking excitedly about its components. 'I think i just ran into the maintenance team...', Nanoha thought, mentally sweat dropping as the brunette turned to her eagerly, asking a million and one questions in a minute. The girl's rambling screeched to a stop as she suddenly frowned. "Sorry, I can get a little carried away sometimes... I'm Shario Finieno, Shari in short, one of the maintenance team.", the brunette told her, pushing the black framed glasses up the bridge of her nose as she held out her free hand.

* * *

Fate turned back to her commanding officer who happily snickered. "Fate, you sly dog! Something happened right?!", Hayate asked a little too eagerly as she shut the office door behind them, locking it. The blush on Fate's face was all the confirmation she needed. Hayate snickered again as she dropped down into her spinny black leather chair, her legs propped over the armrest as she crossed her arms over her chest. "So... Nanoha taught you a new dance... Everyone enjoys the horizontal tango!~", Hayate suspected, making Fate's blush darken. The brunette gave a very satisfied grin at her best friend's reactions.

As the blush faded, Fate's aura suddenly darkened. "Hayate, that's not what happened! Stop making things up for your own damn amusement!", Fate shouted, giving her a glare as she watched her childhood friend beginning to even her nails length with her trusty nail filer.

Hayate nodded at Fate, but was clearly more amused by her nail job as she pulled it away from her face to examine her handy work.

"Are you listening even to me?!", Fate yelled irritated, pointing at her annoyed.

"ah-ha! Got ya stupid hangnail!", Hayate spoke loudly as she blew at her fingertips to rid them of any nail shavings that may have been left on her nails in a fine powdered dust.

Fate twitched in annoyance before spinning around on her heels, stomping off towards the door.

"Wait...", Hayate's voice stopped her in her tracks.

Fate sighed, removing the hand that she had resting on the doorknob, allowing it to slide off.

Hayate appeared behind her grinning, holding out two square white boxes with Fate and Nanoha's name scribbled on the top of them. "A congratulations gift from me to you two!", she paused, handing Fate also a decent sized white gift bag. "And this is an early wedding present!", Hayate told her, rushing out of the room at break neck speeds.

Fate watched as the trail of dust that Hayate had left in her wake slowly vanish. Fate curiously opened the bag and spontaneously turned into millions shades of red which displayed over her whole face. "HAYATE!", Fate yelled, stuffing the two smaller white boxes into the bag, dashing off after her childhood friend who was no doubt laughing in a corner, hiding somewhere because of her 'gifts'.

* * *

Nanoha smiled, extending her hand to Shari. "I'm Nanoha Takamachi. Nice to make your acquaintance Shari.", she told her, as she watched Shari's hand clap with hers. "And this is Raising Heart, an AI Tactical Eliminator 2 rifle, 24" stainless steel barrel without muzzle brake and a 26" with muzzle brake, equipped with a Leopold PRW mount and a 4.5 x14 power Zeiss Conquest Z-Plex scope.", she continued, feeling proud as she described her beloved rifle.

Shari's eyes shined as Nanoha started mentioning the rifle's components. "It's in such good condition. Do you take care of it yourself? If yes, you're really doing a good job", she told Nanoha while examining more the rifle.

Nanoha slightly blushed at the compliment, nodding her head.

The blonde haired book lover slowly approached Nanoha seemingly nervous, extending his hand to her. "Hello there. I'm Yuu-", he started, but before he could finish his presentation, someone had barged abruptly into the firing range.

As everyone turned around, checking who had rushed rudely inside, they find the commander desperately needing breathe. As she quickly approached them, leaving the firing range's door wide open, the short haired brunette chuckled. "Everyone... Help me out... I need to hide... My life is at risk... It's an emergency...", she told them, looking at everyone's stunned face.

The three new recruits blinked repetitively, not sure what's happening. Signum slowly shook her head while Vita sweat dropped. "What did you do now?", the redhead asked, already knowing what answer to expect. Signum released a heartfelt sigh and smiled. "She probably angered Testarossa again.", the pink haired Lieutenant continued, sure that she had guessed correctly.

Nanoha tilting her head, wondering who they're referring to. 'Testarossa... I wonder who that is... Someone I still haven't met... Hmm... And what did she do?... This seems to be something that happens frequently... but wait, wasn't Hayate with Fate... Could it be they're referring to Fate?...' , she thought, wondering what Hayate had done and if it was in fact Fate the one she managed to anger.

Everyone suddenly looked at the firing range's door. Running footsteps could be heard in the distance, gradually becoming clearer.

The brunette smiled sheepishly, confirming to everyone that she was in fact guilty of what her cousins said. As the footsteps became louder, Hayate dashed towards Nanoha, hiding behind her. "Help me. Please... I'm sure that only you can save me in this one.", she pleaded to the long haired brunette, soon receiving a supportive smile.

As the running footsteps came to an end, Fate suddenly appeared, clenching against the door's side. With her head lowered down, the blonde was now struggling to breathe, taking deep breaths.

Nanoha's face suddenly lit up at the view of her partner, going into cloud nine, broadly smiling as she felt happy that they were once again together.

Fate slowly approached everyone, dragging her feet as she mumbled in a low voice, trying to take small breaths between every word. "Hand... over... Hayate... to... me...", she said, feeling rather content and confident that her devious friend was definitely here. As the blonde-haired lifted her head, trying to spot where her prey was, a smile suddenly appeared on Fate's face, feeling thrilled to see a certain long haired brunette standing right in front of her. Seeing Nanoha brightly smiling at her, Fate calmed down, happily approaching her partner.

Signum and Vita looked at each other, surprised how Fate had suddenly just calmed down. From past experience, usually the shenanigans between the blonde haired and the brunette ended with their cousin holding her head in pain after receiving a nice sweet smack.

Hayate released a heartfelt sigh, feeling rather secure that she was not going to be hit but even so, it was better not to risk. As the blonde was a couple of feet away from them, Hayate slowly stood up, stretching up to grab on to Nanoha's shoulder. "Sorry", she whispered to the long haired brunette, before suddenly pushing her towards her childhood friend.

The push caused Nanoha to unintentionally leap forward, stumbling on her own feet. Seeing so, Fate immediately dashed ahead to grab hold of her partner. As the blonde caught the brunette, Fate lost balance, causing them to fall backwards.

The long haired brunette laid on top of the long haired blonde who had cushioned her fall, holding her tightly to not let her get hurt in any way. Only centimeters away from each other's face, their eyes met, and celestial blue was now locked on crimson burgundy.

Nanoha kept staring into those stunning red eyes, taken by their allurement. 'Her eyes seem to be filled with life again... They are so lovely... I want to always see them flourishing with life like this...', the brunette thought, examining every single detailed they held.

Fate couldn't help herself but feel mesmerized by those sincere beautiful blue eyes. 'I feel so attracted to them... I want to stay like this forever... Stare at these angelic eyes, filled with a radiant light of joy...', the blonde thought, trying to figure out the world behind them .

Silence suddenly reigned in the firing range. Everyone was staring at the two who remained down on the floor, seemingly not wanted to get back up. Hayate deviously smiled, happy about the scene.

Seconds passed and a sweet smile had now planted itself on Nanoha's face.

Fate smiled back, happy to see that Nanoha smiling again. "Hi.", she told her partner, arms wrapped protectively around Nanoha's waist.

Nanoha grinned. "Hi.", she replied back, happy to be once again this close to her partner.

The blonde chuckled. "I'm back.", she continued, mentally happy as she recalled that this was a nice deja vu.

The brunette giggled hearing her partner chuckle. "Welcome back.", she told her, rather content to be united again with her. "Thank you for helping me. Are you hurt?", Nanoha asked, wanting to make sure that Fate didn't hurt herself when they fell.

Fate smiled. "You're welcome. No, I'm not. Thanks for asking~", she replied, feeling glad that she was there to catch her.

Hayate jokingly coughed. "Ah, Nanoha seems to be on top this time. These two love birds seem to be really enjoying this. Why don't we all go away and leave them to some private time~?", she said with a mischievous grin, later turning towards the others, showing them to the exit.

As they registered Hayate's words, Fate's and Nanoha's face lit up. Various tints of red made way on their cheeks, realizing that they forgot they were embraced together on the floor, right in front of everyone. Fate suddenly loosened her arms, allowing Nanoha to slowly get up. As Nanoha got up, she extended a hand to Fate, helping her stand back up too. The two nervously brushed off their clothes from any wrinkles and dust, trying to shake off the nervous feeling.

Seeing the two get up, Hayate sighed, shaking her head. "Ooo... Why did you two get up? I was clearing the room for you. That's not how it works, you know.", she told them, watching as darker shades of red appeared on their face.

Feeling rather embarrassed, Nanoha started fidgeting with her hands. 'I... I was on top of her... and just... just remained there... How embarrassing... I spaced out, forgetting everyone... What did the others think?... What did Fate think?... She was smiling so sincerely... and her embrace... it felt so protective... I wish we could have remained like that...', Nanoha thought as she slightly looked at her side, eyeing her beautiful blond partner who was embracing her so tightly a few seconds ago.

Fate felt as if she was burning up, realizing how close she was once again with her partner. 'I... N-nanoha... I kept her down there... I just held her tightly, not letting her get up... but at least... she didn't seem bothered by it... Damn Hayate... What was she thinking... Why did she have to interfere... saying something like that...', Fate thought, angrily clenching her fists as she glared at Hayate. "Hayate, what are you saying? Don't let your damn imagination flow like that... What the hell are you thinking, saying something like that?", she asked, angry at how her childhood friend reacted.

Hayate mischievously grinned, happy to receive that question. "Oh, do I really need to explain?", she asked as she released a content heartfelt sigh, shaking her head. "Well, it had to go like this. First you two had to remain down there, oh so NICELY embraced together. Then you had to give me enough time to get everyone out of the room, and not standing back up, but just remaining down there together, waiting for the room to clear.", the short haired brunette began.

Nanoha fidgeted more with her hands while Fate clenched her fists more tightly, feeling the blood inside her boil. 'Does she have a death wish or something?... She's going to keep at it... I feel like smacking her... but I don't want to do it in front of Nanoha...', she thought, trying to control herself in front of her partner.

Seeing no reaction from Fate who was just standing there listening, Hayate decided to continue. "Well after that, it's quite simple. You had to...", she started but soon got interrupted by the arrival of another officer who seemed to need to say something. "Ah Griffith. Do you need something?", she asked, hoping it was nothing bad.

The tall short haired officer saluted. "Commander, we have a call for a robbery in process. We need to dispatch units immediately.", he stated, waiting for the commanders orders.

Hayate sighed; annoyed that she had to stop her entertainment. "I understand. Go back to the department and dispatch available units. Officer Harlaown, Officer Takamachi, are you up for the task?", she asked, watching as the two long haired officers nodded their heads. She nodded back, later breaking into a mischievous grin as she continued. "Good. After all, I'm sure you two have a lot of unused energy to spare now.", she concluded, watching as the two turned into various tints of red again.

* * *

**End of Chapter 3**

**Author's Note:** And this is the end of our third chapter. We hope you enjoyed reading the story so far. We'd appreciate if you leave a comment or a review =]. All input and constructive criticisms will be appreciated. Let us know what you think. Promise to update soon for those of you who enjoy this story!

Thanks again for taking your time to read our story.

Regards =]  
_ElementalMiko12 _and _nioki-nainai_


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